The area of contaminated soils due to the war in Ukraine exceeded 1.1 million m², – Ministry of Environment
15 April 15:58
The damage to Ukraine’s environment caused by the war exceeded UAH 3.5 billion. The nature reserve fund and soil and land suffered the most.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, in response to a request from Komersant ukrainskyi, reported on the environmental consequences of the full-scale war and measures to improve environmental monitoring.
The government has approved a number of resolutions to launch a new state environmental monitoring system. Are there any chances for environmental recovery and how does this affect the health of citizens? Read more in the article.
Deputy Minister Viktoriia Kyrieieva reported on the Ministry’s systematic work on reforming the state environmental monitoring system, as well as the results of calculating the damage caused to Ukraine’s environment as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.
“A key step in this direction was the adoption of Law of Ukraine No. 2973-IX, which creates the basis for a comprehensive state environmental monitoring system. This system includes eight subsystems, including monitoring of air, water, soil, forests, biodiversity, waste, geological environment and the impact of physical factors. In order to implement the law, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has adopted a number of resolutions that regulate the functioning of each subsystem, – Viktoriia Kyrieieva
The Ministry of Ecology has also developed seven official methods for calculating environmental damage, including for forest areas, water resources, soil and air pollution, and unauthorized use of subsoil.
As of February 14, 2025, 7 , 569 environmental events related to the Russian invasion were entered into the unified register of environmental damage created by the Operational Headquarters. According to the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine, the total amount of damage caused as of February 28, 2025, is over UAH 3.5 billion. The largest losses were recorded in the following areas:
- uAH 1.45 billion to the nature reserve fund;
- uAH 1.2 billion for soil pollution;
- uAH 776 million for air pollution;
- uAH 104 million – for damage to water resources.
In addition, the Ministry has launched an official online service and mobile application called EcoThreat, a tool for collecting and analyzing information on environmental damage caused by the war. Using this service, citizens can report cases of environmental disasters and receive information about the state of air, water, and soil in their regions.
According to EcoThreat, the environmental consequences of the war are catastrophic:
- emissions into the atmosphere amounted to over 72 million tons;
- the area of contaminated soil exceeded 1.1 million m²;
- more than 23 thousand tons of harmful substances got into water bodies;
- more than 66 tons of pollution entered the sea.
The Ministry of Ecology continues to record and assess environmental damage and is adapting the legal framework for the new monitoring system to function properly after the end of martial law.
